A known type of input/output (I/O) electrical connector includes an elongated dielectric housing having a front mating face and rear face with a terminal module-receiving cavity extending therebetween. A plurality of terminal modules are insertable into the cavity, with each module including a dielectric insert or strip surrounding a plurality of terminals. The dielectric insert may be overmolded about body sections of the plurality of terminals.
For instance, thin elongated terminal modules may be positioned in a side-by-side or "stacked" array within the housing cavity. In order to hold the modules within the cavities, various latch means are provided. The latch means can vary from interengaging latches between adjacent modules, interengaging latches between the modules and the housing and completely separate latching devices. Systems using separate latching devices add considerably to the cost of the connectors and, in some applications, are simply cost prohibitive. Molded interengaging latches between adjacent modules or between the modules and the housing are cost effective and most often preferred.
A problem with most integral latching systems of the prior art is that they are in one way or another asymmetrical. In other words, the terminal modules must be positioned in a particular alignment or orientation in order to assemble the modules within the connector housing cavity. This is a time consuming and expensive procedure. In fact, totally separate alignment stations have been provided during processing of some connectors, with the alignment stations being quite expensive.
The present invention is directed to solving these problems by providing a connector assembly which uses terminal modules that are configured to be symmetrical to the extent that the modules can be inserted into the connector housing cavity regardless of the orientation of any of the modules.